Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 2nd Tehran Security Conference on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif noted agreements on holding an advisory meeting on JCPOA between Iranian delegation and the three EU countries (UK, France, Germany) in light of Donald Trump’s antagonistic policies and his administration's efforts to undermine the nuclear deal.
Zarif made the remarks while dismissing rumors that the meeting would contain talks on the recent protests that erupted in several Iranian cities on Dec. 28 over mostly economic woes, and resulted in the death of 21 people. Zarif stressed that the rumors were made by certain media outlets, particularly those in Israel, to feed their own objectives.
“Some outside the country tried to take advantage of this situation,” Zarif said, referring to the protests. “It is a fact that people in Iran, unlike those regional US allies, have a right to protest and voice their views and criticism against the government.”
He went on to stress, “of course the right to protest is preserved through peaceful means, and violence has no place in it.”
Zarif slammed the US for their attempts at politically exploiting Iran’s protests to achieve their own goals, adding “despite their best efforts to pressure the UN Security Council into holding a session on Iran, we saw how the US was isolated and the present member states, instead of talking about what Washington intended, all stressed the need for preservation of the nuclear deal and non-interference in Iran’s domestic affairs.”
“The UNSC meeting showed that the approach of Trump’s administration is an isolated one on the global scene,” Zarif stressed.
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